Operation Megalithic Lift - The Stones and the Stars: Building Scotland's Newest Megalith - page 223

F IG . 7.26 The circle newly built, looking west to Glasgow University ( left
of center ) and the Summerhill (Photo by Ian Downie)
I was so stressed during the operation that it wasn't until I
was looking at the press coverage that I realized which helicopter
we had been sent. I had seen 'Zero One' before. I had once been
picking up David Proffitt from the camp gate when 01 took off,
only to hover for a long time over the apron. “Why isn't he flying
off?” David wondered, and I jokingly said, “Perhaps he's scared
to.” “With Zero One, you could be right,” said David, going on to
explain that in Naval Air Squadrons the designation was given to
the oldest aircraft, the 'hangar queen' normally used as a source
of spares. Once when he was on aircraft carrier duty, a Zero One
fighter-bomber had been launched only to get into immediate
difficulties. The crew ejected, but the machine fell into a menac-
ing circuit of the carrier, while the gun crews were scrambled to
their posts to shoot it down.
I don't know whether anyone in the MoD or the Navy had
thought we might write the helicopter off for them. However,
David later reported, HMS Gannet's Zero One had apparently
benefited from the powers of stone circles, gaining a new lease of